Do you wish there's a god?

[Rahn127]

I can imagine a god listening to all the horrors that happen in life and turning every living thing into rocks.

God - "Solved all those problems. Easy peasy"

So no, I don't wish there was a god.

[Alan V]

Well I don't know about critters like yourself, you're just strangers on the internet. But in my view most people I know, especially as they get older appear lost and bewildered by life, they hunger and seek things, and meanings that never come to fruition, or are far less meaningful than they thought they were. They chase one disappointing idol to the next. 

The atheists seems to believe in a world in which man creates his own meaning, that there's near endless options as to what can constitute as a meaningful life, so to each is own. As a surveyor of meaning, there isn't multiple meanings to life, there's just one, only seen with great effort.  Those who don't see that are just perpetually lost, bewildered and disappointed, chasing after false gods. 

That the world is filled with men just staring at shadows in the cave, in denial  or ignorant of the light outside of it.

One big point in favor of atheism is the realization that people don't need any God or gods at all. So no idols, no "self-as-God," no "just one meaning to life," and no false gods. Atheism is an honest way to embrace human limitations, rather than pretending the world is better, or even more reliable, than it is.

[Belacqua]

Atheism is an honest way to embrace human limitations, rather than pretending the world is better, or even more reliable, than it is.

Oh, man, you're going to get in trouble for that.

Forum dogma states that atheism is lack, only lack, and nothing but lack. To state that it's "honest" is far too non-lackist. 

The lack may or may not be honest, depending on the atheist.

[The Valkyrie]

Sid: The god of Punks.

Unwashy: God of hippies.

[Alan V]

Atheism is an honest way to embrace human limitations, rather than pretending the world is better, or even more reliable, than it is.

Oh, man, you're going to get in trouble for that.

Forum dogma states that atheism is lack, only lack, and nothing but lack. To state that it's "honest" is far too non-lackist. 

The lack may or may not be honest, depending on the atheist.

If by "trouble," you mean some people will disagree -- I guess I'm used to that.

All that every atheist has in common is a lack of a belief in any God or gods.  It's the lowest common denominator.  Of course, any given atheist can be quite a bit more, and we often share other traits in a family resemblance way.  What confuses theists is that they often think "atheist" is the opposite of "Christian" or "Muslim," when it is really the opposite of "theist" in the general sense of the word.  In other words, we don't profess any specific doctrines necessarily.

So you think some people who say they don't believe in God are lying to themselves or others?  How exactly is it dishonest to claim one is an atheist unless one really does believe in a God or gods?

[Belacqua]

How exactly is it dishonest to claim one is an atheist unless one really does believe in a God or gods?

Oh, man, I know better than to get into that.

This site is Lackist Fundamentalism. 

If you don't believe in gods it is honest to say you are an atheist. But you said way more than that, a couple of posts ago.

[Alan V]

How exactly is it dishonest to claim one is an atheist unless one really does believe in a God or gods?

Oh, man, I know better than to get into that.

This site is Lackist Fundamentalism. 

If you don't believe in gods it is honest to say you are an atheist. But you said way more than that, a couple of posts ago.

Yeah, okay.  So what does that mean?  Do you think a lack of belief in God has no benefits?

I personally think avoiding making anything into an idol, like a god, is a benefit of atheism. To me that's just an extrapolation.

But perhaps you are right that not everyone interprets it that way. I know religious people don't.

[Belacqua]

I personally think avoiding making anything into an idol, like a god, is a benefit of atheism.  To me that's just an extrapolation.

Pure Lackism requires us to clarify: not having an idol is a possible trait of atheists. But since the only thing all atheists have in common is The Lack, they may idolize something else. Taylor Swift, maybe.

[Abaddon_ire]

I personally think avoiding making anything into an idol, like a god, is a benefit of atheism.  To me that's just an extrapolation.

Pure Lackism requires us to clarify: not having an idol is a possible trait of atheists. But since the only thing all atheists have in common is The Lack, they may idolize something else. Taylor Swift, maybe.

Sure, why not? Atheism itself is a position on a single issue. The existence of gods. In no way does it say anything about any other beliefs which may or may not be held by an atheist.

Even a child could understand this, but you cannot.

Why?

[The Grand Nudger]

If a person views both god and atheism through the prism of christian apologia, and combines that with the tendency of atheists to be less than generous™ regarding christer god specifically, a person can get to thinking things that don't uniformly apply to atheists thoughts on gods.

"The new testament is horseshit" get's internally translated to "I have a positive disbelief in gods", instead of remaining the very specific comment on a very specific set of god beliefs that it is, etc.